Ride Report: 77 mile Reach the Beach charity ride

Despite, my pre-ride concern about lack of sleep, I completed my 77 mile charity ride with no issues and much better then expected. I still did not sleep well the night before, but in the end it did not matter. My total ride time was 4 hours 28 minutes with a 17.17 mph average. I would have liked to take more pictures, but it just seemed like I was always in a crowd of bikes for the most part. To recap the ride, I am going to do it a little different then I normally do with positives and negatives about the ride.

Negatives(To get them out of the way)

1)Ride organization and rest stops. This is by far the worst organized ride that I have be on. The morning registration was not thought out, and slow. Some of the rest stops had little supplies on hand, fortunately I was an early rider and was not an issue for me. Still, I could see where it might be a problem for later riders. Also, the lack of portable restrooms for an event of this size (3000 riders) was inexcusable. The saving grace was that there were extra rest stops compared to other events that I have rode, so missing a stop would most likely be all right.

2) Rough road. Between grooved road, chip seal, poor patch jobs, and some nasty ruts I saw a lot of flat tires and a few crashed riders that were victims of the conditions.

3) One motorist seemed to think that I was not over to the line on part of the road that had no shoulder, so he gave me a horn honk. That said, most of the drivers were fairly good about our ride.

4) Wind at the end of the ride. The Oregon coast is noted for wind and sure enough it was there. I fully expected to deal with, but it does not mean I have to like it. Honestly, it could have been worse.

Positives !!!!

1) Almost perfect weather!!! About 50 degrees at the start and about 75 at the finish, very nice.

2) The scenery. Typical spring green scenery from the Willamette valley to the coast.

3)Hills!! I so love riding hills, I almost wish there was more of them. It seems that most of the skinneys that I was keeping pace with on the flats fell by the wayside as soon as we started to climb the hills.

4) The other riders, It just seems like everyone is just so friendly at these events.

5) Getting in a pace line. This was a new one for me, but on the last leg a strong Clyde was pulling two skinny gals, so I joined in as they passed by. He rode into the wind for a few miles before he could not go any farther, so I volunteered to lead. Only one of the gals stayed with me as I pumped into wind at 19-20 mph. When I could not do it anymore she thanked me for the pull. Afterward, I found out that they had started at a closer starting point and I was still able to keep up with them.

6) A random act of kindness. At the end of the ride I was sitting down leaned up against a post waiting for my wife to get there. I felt someone rubbing my head and assumed it was my wife. I grabbed her hand only to notice it was not my wife's hand. I turned around and saw an elderly lady. She said if I would stand up she would give me a back rub. I did, and sure enough rubbed my back, it felt great. I thanked her sincerely, then she walked off.

Overall, a great ride, and even with the small negatives, I'll be doing it again next year. Now for some pictures.

Me at the start in Salem Oregon.
This is a farm that produces plant nursery stock.
One of the meadows in the mountain pass
These gals were at the last rest stop, they were quite funny in their beach "floaties"
Me again at the finish at Pacific City Oregon
A view of the ocean from the beach
This boat is called a dory, they actually land themselves on the beach. It is fun to watch them gather speed on the ocean and shoot themselves on to the sand.
This is a typical Oregon day looks like at the coast, fog and such. This pic was taken today, quite a difference from yesterdays weather.

I can agree with you on the rest spots. Accept for the last one where the lady with the swimming costume put a smile on my face that lasted the rest of the ride

I know which gal you are talking about, she did have a certain energy about her that me smile too. Then again, the cute skinny gal that I was following in the pace line made me smile too for the rest of the ride for some reason.

Originally Posted by Nighteyez

Sounds like you had a good time even with the negatives. That is cool that someone gave you a back rub. Never heard of that happening before. Excellent pics.

I hope I did come across as not liking the ride. As I said, they were small negatives that detracted from making it a perfect ride. I will do it again, but I am temped to write the organizer with a few suggestions for next years event. Now the back rub was so unexpected that I really was at a loss of words. I guess I must have just looked really sad and she took pity on me.